MANNKK OF MKiKATIoX. 57 



Oltscrvations of tlii.s kind sliould l)e made in Se})tem- 

 l>er, when the fall migration is at its heii^lit. On the 

 iiiulit of Sei)toinl)er 3, ISST, at Tenaliy, New Jersey, a 

 friend and myself, nsini,^ a six-and-a-lialf-incli equatorial 

 glass, saw no less than two hundred and sixty-two ]>ir<ls 

 cross the narrow angle subtended by the liml)s of tlie 

 moon between the hours of eiglit and eleven. Observa- 

 tions made several years later, in Septemljer, from the 

 observatory of Columbia University, ;ynelded closely simi- 

 lar results. 



This nocturnal journey of birds may also be studied 

 from lighthouses. On September 2C), 1891, I visited the 

 Bartholdi Statue of the Goddess of Liberty, in Xew York 

 Bay, for this purpose. The weather was most favorable. 

 The first bird was observed at eight o'clock, and for 

 the succeeding two hours others were constantly heard, 

 thougli comparatively few were seen. At ten o'clock it 

 began to rain ; and almost simultaneously there was a 

 marked increase in the number of birds about the light, 

 and within a few minutes there were hundreds where 

 before there was one, while the air was tilled with the 

 calls of the passing host. 



From the balcony which encircles the torch the scene 

 was impressive beyond description. AVe seemed to have 

 torn aside the veil which shrouds the mysteries of the 

 night, and with the searching light exposed the secrets 

 of Nature. 



By far the larger number of birds hurried onward ; 

 others hovered before us, like Hummingbirds before a 

 flower, then Hew swiftly by into the darkness ; and some, 

 apparently blinded by the brilliant rays, struck the statue 

 slightly, or with sutHcient force to cause them to fall dead 

 or dying. At daybi-eak a few stragglers were still wing- 

 ing their way southward, l):it before the sun rose the 

 lliL-lit was over. 



